Unemployment claims fell sharply in a week in the United States, suggesting that layoffs have slowed despite the upsurge in Covid-19 cases in the country, according to figures released Thursday by the Department of Labor.
Between November 1 and 7, 709,000 people were unemployed, a sharp drop from the previous week, when they were 757,000, according to figures revised upwards.
This is the lowest level since March, when containment measures were put in place, but it is still more than three times higher than before the pandemic.
Analysts were expecting 740,000 new registrations.
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Evolution of weekly jobless claims in the United States US Bureau of labor statistics
And 6.8 million Americans were unemployed at the end of October, down from 7.2 a week earlier, with the data released a week later.
But this decline does not necessarily mean that these people have found work: some of them are no longer entitled to unemployment benefits, and are turning to additional aid put in place by the federal government to deal with the pandemic.
On the one hand, they make it possible to extend unemployment benefits to workers who are not usually entitled to them, such as the self-employed, and on the other hand, to extend unemployment rights by several weeks.
A third of the country's unemployed have now been out of work for more than six months, according to October figures released last week.
Many workers laid off when the pandemic hit the United States eight months ago in March have still not found work.
Because some sectors, such as tourism, remain affected.
However, in the United States, unemployment benefits are paid for a maximum of six months.
Each State sets the amount and duration.
In October, the unemployment rate fell to 6.9%, and 11.1 million people were unemployed.
After the presidential election, elected Democrats and Republicans in Congress should get back to work, and try to find a compromise to put in place a new stimulus plan, vital according to economists to allow the country to regain health.